Former Georgetown star Ewing out as Hoyas coach

Patrick Ewing was fired as men’s basketball coach at Georgetown on Thursday after the latest in a series of rough seasons at the school he led to a national championship as a player in the 1980s.

Ewing was never a head coach at any level of the sport until getting the job with the Hoyas in 2017, and he leaves after a half-dozen years with a record of 75109. His last game was an 80-48 loss to Villanova on Wednesday night in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, the arena where Ewing was a star for the NBA’S New York Knicks for so many years.

Georgetown went 7-25 this season, including 2-18 in regular-season conference play. Ewing presided over a 29-game Big East losing streak that began in March 2021 and ended this January, the most consecutive defeats in league history.

The past two seasons were particularly poor: The Hoyas won a combined total of 13 games while losing 50, a winning percentage of .206.

Ewing’s tenure included only one winning season, zero victories in the NCAA Tournament and just one appearance in the Big Dance. It’s a far cry from the sort of success the program enjoyed when the 7-foot-tall Ewing was patrolling the paint as an intimidating, shot-blocking force at center decades ago.

• California men’s basketball coach Mark Fox was fired following the worst season in school history.

The Golden Bears finished 3-29 in Fox’s fourth season as coach following a 69-52 loss Wednesday in the first round of the Pac12 tournament against Washington State. Cal set a school record for most losses in a season.

Cal went 38-87 in Fox’s tenure, ending his final season on a 16-game losing streak. Fox’s .304 winning percentage ranks second worst in school history to predecessor Wyking Jones’ 16-47 mark (.254) in the two seasons before Fox arrived.

The Bears haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and haven’t won a game in the tournament since 2013 under Mike Montgomery.

Fox couldn’t even get close, posting a losing record in all four seasons.

Adding to the issues for Fox was the complete lack of interest in the program. Cal’s home attendance averaged just 2,155 this season.

The Bears were coming off back-to-back eightwin seasons when Fox was hired in 2019. Cal showed some progress in Fox’s first season by going 14-18 but quickly regressed.

The Bears went 9-20 in 2020-21, 12-20 the following season and bottomed out this season when they were tied with Green Bay for the worst winning percentage in all Division I.

• Playing without ailing coach Bill Self, thirdranked Kansas turned to big offensive performances from Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris Jr. to pull away from West Virginia 75-61 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

Wilson had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Harris had 13 points with eight assists, as the top-seeded Jayhawks (26-6) began defense of their tournament crown by knocking off the Mountaineers (19-14) for the third time this season.

SOCCER Bouanga’s hat trick lifts LAFC to victory

In its 2023 CONCACAF Champions League debut, visiting LAFC rode a Dénis Bouanga hat trick to a dominant 3-0 win over Alajuelense of Costa Rica in Leg 1 of the Round of 16.

Leg 2 will be Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.

Bouanga broke a scoreless tie at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in the 47th minutes when he took a low cross from Ryan Hollingshead and slotted it home.

Hollingshead also assisted on Bouanga’s second goal in the 70th minute.

Bouanga completed the scoring by blasting a rightfooted shot in the 89th minute.

MLB Yankees’ Rodón will start season on IL

Carlos Rodón’s debut for the New York Yankees is going to have to wait.

The veteran left-handed pitcher will begin the season on the injured list due to a left forearm strain.

Rodón, who the Yankees signed to a six-year, $162 million deal in the offseason, will be shut down for 7-10 days.

He struggled in his first spring training appearance, allowing five runs on six hits in two innings against Atlanta on Sunday.

The 30-year-old is coming off a spectacular season with San Francisco, going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 178 innings while making the All-star game for the second consecutive year.

TENNIS Wawrinka wins in Indian Wells return

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka made a successful return to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after four years away, beating qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Wawrinka, a 37-yearold who has been ranked as high as No. 3 and is now No. 100 after a series of operations to his left foot and left knee, hit 10 aces and won 28 of 33 first-serve points. His previous match at the hard-court tournament was a loss to Swiss Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer in the third round in 2019.

Wawrinka was the runner-up to Federer at Indian Wells in 2017.